System and method for applying tracing tools for network devices

ABSTRACT

A method is disclosed for enabling a network location to provide an ordering process for data relevant to connected network devices&#39; activities. The method includes assembling the data, utilizing the activity data, and associating the data, such that information is derived to enable a desired expansion of at least one designated activity. Another method is disclosed for managing an object assignment broadcast operations for a network location based on a network device&#39;s previous activities. This second method includes tracing a network device&#39;s conduct to determine that a network device prefers a particular class of content. The method also includes tagging a network device&#39;s profile with the respective observation and deciding by a network location as to the classification factor for a network device to be targeted for an object assignment broadcast.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. Ser. No. 15/595,590 filed May15, 2017, which is a continuation-in-part application of U.S. Ser. No.12/608,117 filed Oct. 29, 2009, which in turn claims the prioritybenefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/109,192 filed Oct. 29,2008, the disclosure of each of which is incorporated by referenceherein in its entirety for all purposes.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to network location tracing, andmore particularly to a system and method for applying an analyticalprocessing to network locations.

BACKGROUND

There are several methods of gathering analytics on client devices (e.g.users) connected to network locations (e.g. websites). One method usesthe traffic history contained in the server's log files. Server logfiles were not intended for monitoring network location traffic,although they can be used for this purpose. However, the process ofextracting the data from a busy server, collating it and presenting ispretty slow and messy. Other systems make use of bits of HTML code addedto the network locations. These bits of code extract data from a clientdevice connected to a network location and send it to a database oneither the host's server of the network location or a proprietaryserver. It would be advantageous to provide means to go beyondtraditional tracing (e.g. metrics), such as the page view, and insteadprovide structured measures of interaction.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, it is a principal object of the present invention to extendtraditional network location based tracing such as page views andinstead provide measurements of interaction.

It is one more principal object of the present invention to provide tonetwork devices that connect to a network location an individualizeduser interface. A network location may present a first network devicewith a first type of content while presenting a second network devicewith a second type of content. As the present invention traces thenetwork device, the system determines the preference of each networkdevice connected to the network location and provides a unique userinterface of the network location to each network device.

It is a further principal object of the present invention to enablenetwork locations to measure network device activities and interactionswith more accuracy and depth.

It is another principal object of the present invention to provide a wayto measure, interpret and grow content, community, and the output from agiven input.

It is one other principal object of the present invention to enablenetwork locations to determine how network device's interact with theaspects of the network location.

It is yet a further principal object of the present invention to providenetwork locations with real-time warnings on network device performance,trends, and abnormalities which are accompanied by actionable solutions.

A method is disclosed for enabling a network location to provide anordering process for data relevant to connected network devices'activities. The method includes assembling the data, utilizing (e.g.monetizing) the activity data, and associating the data, such thatinformation is derived to enable a desired expansion of at least onedesignated activity. Utilizing the activity data also involves having anetwork location designate a unit of measure, such as unit of time (theduration of which the network device executes a particular activity).Another method is disclosed for managing an object assignment broadcast(e.g. ad) operation for a network location based a network device'sprevious activities. This second method includes tracing a networkdevice's conduct to determine that a network device prefers a particularclass of content. The method also includes tagging a network device'sprofile with the respective observation and deciding by a networklocation as to the classification factor for a network device to betargeted for an object assignment broadcast. Finally, the most relevantobject assignment broadcasts are displayed at each network deviceaccording to the network device's profile and continuing networklocation activity.

The present invention provides a warning system that traces the conductof network devices connected to a network location, detects trends andabnormalities and identifies deviations in network device activity. Theapplication provides actionable reports, thus enables network locationsto improve network device conversion and output from a given input,expand network device immersion, and expand network device connectiontime to the network location, etc.

Network locations receive real-time information connected devicesregarding: the network location's current operating status; the networkdevices' top contributing content generators; the network devices thatare the top contributing network devices; identifying target networkdevices; identifying the top contributing content; the network devicesthat may disconnect from the network location (e.g. network deviceloss); and/or exact output from a given input generated by eachoperation and device attributor.

Some of the unique features of the present invention are: measures thenetwork device immersion and input parameters; detect the exact input ofevery element of network location content; traces network device data;obtain real-time warnings on deviations in network device conduct.

The present invention provides a full two-way Application ProgrammerInterface (API). An API is a set of public methods accessible to networklocations. In non-Java situations, API refers to the visible part of thecode in a software package. Network locations can enhance network deviceimmersion using device based individualization and a suggestion engine.Network locations can also develop impetuses. Object assignmentbroadcast networks integrate with the API to serve different objectassignment broadcasts to specific network devices based on informationregarding that network device. Network locations are dynamicallyprogrammed using the API, down to the network device level, based oninformation associated with specific content that target specificnetwork devices. Network-based object assignment platforms dynamicallycreate specific assignments and target specific objects to specificnetwork devices based on network device conduct.

The present invention provides two basic tools:

I Tracing Tool

Traces network locations and provides information on connected networkdevice activity.

Which objects should be targeted?

Which search identifiers should be targeted?

Each network device can get a unique display of the network location,given enough information.

Which network devices should be targeted?

If one knows the utilization one can determine value of each networkdevice.

By running the ordering process, one can give recommendations for anydimension: network devices, objects, search identifiers, and/orlocation.

Network devices need not install or download anything.

II The Sage Engine: Proactive Tracing

The tool (tradename “Sage”) traces a network location's data to deriveconclusions in the form of trends and/or spikes in activity or other“stories.” For example, network devices connected to a network locationfrom a particular location may vary over a time interval by about 3-4%,but over a specific time interval the system detected an increase of15%. In another example, there was a steady increase of 34% of networkdevices searching for recreational destinations.

In another example, on a network location with a “request for networkdevice object selection” (e.g. bidding or simply “selection”) format, aparticular object was found to generate a disproportionately largeamount of selections and reviews. The system orients the object withinthe home page of the network location after which object assignmentsover a particular interval for the object increased by at least oneorder of magnitude.

The network location for the present invention may associate with othernetwork locations or associate with a terminal device of networklocations. The network location for the present invention traces datafrom a selection-based network location and, as a result, may makerecommendations based on network device's conduct toward one object suchas the iPhone to another object such as Nokia. The network location maytransmit a message to a network device indicating that “many networkdevices that assigned an iPhone also assigned a Nokia phone.”

Such results are used to initiate and/or reformulate ads presented tonetwork devices based on the network devices' previous activities,according the following exemplary procedure: tracing a network device'sconduct results in observations that a network device prefers a class ofobjects; tagging the network devices profile with the respectiveproperty; deciding by the network location as to the classificationfactor to be targeted for an ad, for example, if the network location isassigning an object the Sage engine finds network devices that mayrequire the object (see “Top Engaging Tags,” with reference to FIG. 2below); and displaying the most relevant ads to each network device.

There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more importantfeatures of the invention in order that the detailed description thereofthat follows hereinafter may be better understood. Additional detailsand advantages of the invention will be set forth in the detaileddescription, and in part will be appreciated from the description, ormay be learned by practice of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present disclosure is described in conjunction with the appendedfigures:

FIG. 1 shows a block diagram of an embodiment of a network interactionsystem.

FIG. 2 shows a block diagram of another embodiment of a networkinteraction system.

FIGS. 3A-3C show block diagrams of other embodiments of a networkinteraction system that includes a connection management system.

FIG. 4 shows a representation of a protocol-stack mapping of connectioncomponents' operation.

FIG. 5 represents a multi-device communication exchange system accordingto an embodiment.

FIG. 6 shows a block diagram of an embodiment of a connection managementsystem.

FIG. 7 is a schematic system block diagram of an exemplary method of thepresent invention.

FIG. 8a is a screenshot of a preferred embodiment of a network locationshowing the “Manage Ordering Process” step in the Create New Processmode of the Ordering Process Wizard, constructed according to theprinciples of the present invention.

FIG. 8b is a screen shot of a preferred embodiment of a network locationshowing the “Naming” step in the Create New Process mode of the OrderingProcess Wizard, constructed according to the principles of the presentinvention.

FIG. 8c is a screenshot of one embodiment of a network location showingthe “Change values” step in the Ordering Process Wizard, constructedaccording to the principles of the present invention;

FIG. 8d is a screenshot of a preferred embodiment of a network locationshowing the “Ordering Dashboard” on the Ordering Center HomePage,constructed according to the principles of the present invention;

FIG. 9a is a screenshot of the Activity Correlation Map, constructedaccording to the principles of the present invention;

FIG. 9b is a screenshot illustrating the ordering of the “Top EngagingTags,” constructed according to the principles of the present invention;

FIG. 10 is a screenshot illustrating the ordering of the “TopContributing Referrers, by Page Hits,” constructed according to theprinciples of the present invention;

FIG. 11 is a screenshot illustrating “Configure Warnings,” constructedaccording to the principles of the present invention;

FIG. 12 is a screenshot illustrating the analyses of the SAGE enginereports, constructed according to the principles of the presentinvention.

FIG. 13 is a screenshot illustrating a SAGE engine synopsis report,constructed according to the principles of the present invention.

In the appended figures, similar components and/or features can have thesame reference label. Further, various components of the same type canbe distinguished by following the reference label by a dash and a secondlabel that distinguishes among the similar components. If only the firstreference label is used in the specification, the description isapplicable to any one of the similar components having the same firstreference label irrespective of the second reference label.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The ensuing description provides examples of embodiment(s) only and isnot intended to limit the scope, applicability or configuration of thedisclosure. Rather, the ensuing description of the examples ofembodiment(s) will provide those skilled in the art with an enablingdescription for implementing examples of embodiment. It is understoodthat various changes can be made in the function and arrangement ofelements without departing from the spirit and scope as set forth in theappended claims.

FIG. 1 shows a block diagram of an embodiment of a network interactionsystem 100 which implements and supports certain embodiments andfeatures described herein. Certain embodiments relate to establishing aconnection channel between a network device 105 (which can be operatedby a user 110) and a terminal device 115 (which can be operated by anagent 120). In certain embodiments, the network interaction system 100can include a client device 130 associated with a client 125.

In certain embodiments, a user 110 can access remote server 140 tointeract with an interface. A client 125 can be an entity that provides,operates, or runs the network site, or agents employed by or assigned bysuch an entity to perform the tasks available to a client 125 asdescribed herein. The agent 120 can be a person, such as a support agenttasked with providing support or data to the user 110 regarding thenetwork site (e.g., data about objects available for assignment over anetwork). Out of a large number of agents, a subset of agents may beappropriate for providing support or data for a particular client 125.The agent 120 may be affiliated or not affiliated with the client 125.Each agent can be associated with one or more clients 125. In somenon-limiting examples, a user 110 can access a network site using a userdevice (e.g., a smartphone, an electronic computing device, anelectronic computing device, and other suitable computing devices), aclient 125 can be a company that provides objects to be assigned tousers that meet certain conditions (e.g., pays a specific price), and anagent 120 can be an agent that is associated with the company. Invarious embodiments, the user 110, client 125, and agent 120 can beother users or entities.

While FIG. 1 shows only a single network device 105, terminal device 115and client device 130, an interaction system 100 can include multiple ormany (e.g., tens, hundreds or thousands) of each of one or more of thesetypes of devices. Similarly, while FIG. 1 shows only a single user 110,agent 120 and client 125, an interaction system 100 can include multipleor many of each of one or more of such entities. Thus, it may benecessary to determine which terminal device is to be selected tocommunicate with a particular network device. Further complicatingmatters, a remote server 140 may also be configured to receive andrespond to select network-device communications.

A connection management system 150 can facilitate strategic routing ofcommunications. A communication can include a message with content(e.g., defined based on input from an entity, such as typed or spokeninput). The communication can also include additional data, such as dataabout a transmitting device (e.g., an IP address, user identifier,device type and/or operating system); a destination address; anidentifier of a client; an identifier of an interface or interfaceelement (e.g., a network site or network site element being visited whenthe communication was generated or otherwise associated with thecommunication); a time (e.g., time of day); and/or destination address.Other data can be included in the communication. In some instances,connection management system 150 routes the entire communication toanother device. In some instances, connection management system 150modifies the communication or generates a new communication (e.g., basedon the initial communication). The new or modified communication caninclude the message (or processed version thereof), at least some (orall) of the additional data (e.g., about the transmitting device,network interface and/or time) and/or other data identified byconnection management system 150 (e.g., user data associated with aparticular user identifier or device). The new or modified communicationcan include other data as well.

Part of strategic-routing facilitation can include establishing,updating and using one or more connection channels between networkdevice 105 and one or more terminal devices 115. For example, uponreceiving a communication from network device 105, connection managementsystem 150 can first estimate to which client (if any) the communicationcorresponds. Upon identifying a client, connection management system 150can identify a terminal device 115 associated with the client forcommunication with network device 105. In some instances, theidentification can include evaluating a protocol (e.g., profile) of eachof a plurality of agents, each agent (e.g., agent 120) in the pluralityof agents being associated with a terminal device (e.g., terminal device115). The evaluation can relate to a content in a network-devicemessage. The identification of the terminal device 115 can include atechnique described, for example, in U.S. application Ser. No.12/725,799, filed on Mar. 17, 2010, which is hereby incorporated byreference in its entirety for all purposes.

In some instances, connection management system 150 can determinewhether any connection channels are established between network device105 and a terminal device associated with the client (or remote server140) and, if so, whether such channel is to be used to transmit andreceive a series of communications including the communication ormessage. This determination may depend, at least in part, on a topicassociated with the communication, a polarity parameter (e.g., asentiment score or value) associated with the communication or a pastrelated communication, an estimated response latency for terminal device115 and/or a type of communication channel associated with thecommunication (e.g., instant message, message, email, phone). Selectingan established communication channel may reduce the need to relay datafrom network device 105 multiple times. Meanwhile, determining that anew communication channel is to be established can facilitate quickerresponses from more specialized agents.

A decision as to whether to select (or continue to use) an establishedcommunication channel and/or a selection of a new terminal device caninclude determining an extent to which each of one or more terminaldevices (e.g., associated with a client) corresponds to a communicationand/or an associated the user. Such correspondence can relate to, forexample, an extent to which an agent's resource set (e.g., knowledgebase) corresponds to a communication topic, an availability of an agentat a particular time and/or over a channel type, a language similaritybetween a user and agent.

Connection management system 150 may use communication analyses toinfluence routing determinations (e.g., determining whether to route acommunication to a terminal device having previously received acommunication from a network device having transmitted the communicationor selecting a terminal device to receive or transmit a communication).One communication analysis can include determining one or more types ortags of a current or past communication or communication series. Forexample, a communication can be assigned a type for each of (forexample) a topic, channel type (e.g., email, SMS message, real-timechat, phone call or asynchronous message), complexity level, messagepolarity, and/or whether/which file type is attached, and aterminal-device selection can be biased towards terminal devicesassociated with similar or related types.

Upon selecting a terminal device 115 to communicate with network device105, connection management system 150 can establish a connection channelbetween the network device 105 and terminal device 115. In someinstances, connection management system 150 can transmit a message tothe selected terminal device 115. The message may request that theterminal device approve a proposed assignment to communicate with anetwork device 105 or identify that such an assignment has beengenerated. The message can include data about network device 105 (e.g.,IP address, device type, and/or operating system), data about anassociated user 110 (e.g., language spoken, duration of havinginteracted with client, skill level, and/or topic preferences), areceived communication, code (e.g., a clickable hyperlink) forgenerating and transmitting a communication to the network device 105,and/or an instruction to generate and transmit a communication tonetwork device 105.

In one instance, communications between network device 105 and terminaldevice 115 can be routed through connection management system 150. Sucha configuration can allow connection management system 150 to monitorthe transmitting and/or receiving of communications or messages and todetect issues (e.g., as defined based on rules) such asnon-responsiveness of either device or extended latency. Further, such aconfiguration can facilitate selective or complete storage ofcommunications, which may later be used, for example, to determine aquality of a communications between network devices and terminal devicesand/or to support learning to update or generate routing rules so as todetermine particular post-communication targets. Such storage can alsofacilitate generation of a series of previous messages (e.g., a messagehistory) between a network device and first terminal device, which maybe transmitted (for example) to a second terminal device when it isdetermined that the second terminal device is to join an existing orparticipate in a new communication series with the network device.

In some embodiments, connection management system 150 can monitor thetransmitting and receiving of communications in real-time and performautomated actions (e.g., rule-based actions) based on the livecommunications. For example, when connection management system 150determines that a communication relates to a particular object,connection management system 150 can automatically transmit anadditional message to terminal device 115 containing additional dataabout the object (e.g., quantity of objects available, other data aboutthe similar objects, etc.).

In one instance, a designated terminal device 115 can communicate withnetwork device 105 without relaying communications through connectionmanagement system 150. One or both devices 105, 115 may (or may not)report particular communication metrics or content to connectionmanagement system 150 to facilitate communication monitoring and/or datastorage.

As mentioned, connection management system 150 may route selectcommunications to a remote server 140. Remote server 140 can beconfigured to provide data in a predetermined manner. For example,remote server 140 may access defined one or more text passages, voicerecording and/or files to transmit in response to a communication.Remote server 140 may select a particular text passage, recording orfile based on, for example, an analysis of a received communication(e.g., a semantic or mapping analysis).

Routing and/or other determinations or processing performed atconnection management system 150 can be performed based on rules and/ordata at least partly defined by or provided by one or more clientdevices 130. For example, client device 130 may transmit a communicationthat identifies a prioritization of agents, terminal-device types,and/or topic similarity. As another example, client device 130 mayidentify one or more weights to apply to various variables that mayimpact routing determinations (e.g., estimated response time, devicetype and capabilities, and/or terminal-device load balancing). It willbe appreciated that which terminal devices and/or agents are to beassociated with a client may be dynamic. Communications from clientdevice 130 and/or terminal devices 115 may provide data indicating thata particular terminal device and/or agent is to be added or removed asone associated with a client. For example, client device 130 cantransmit a communication with IP address and an indication as to whethera terminal device with the address is to be added or removed from a listidentifying client-associated terminal devices.

In one instance, connection management system 150 facilitates an initialconnection and routing between network device 105 and a first terminaldevice 115. For example, a message received in a communication fromnetwork device 105 can be routed to the first terminal device. Asanother example, communication management system 150 can transmit acommunication to the first terminal device that includes or isindicative of a request or instruction to transmit a communication(e.g., initiating a communication series) to network device 105.

Connection management system 150 can monitor and/or analyze acorresponding communication series between network device 105 and thefirst terminal device to determine a characteristic. For example,connection management system 150 can analyze message content in one ormore communications (e.g., to determine whether and/or how many ofparticular words, symbols or character types, such as “frustrat*”,“very”, “thank”, or “irritat*”, “!” or capital letters, were used). Asanother example, connection management system 150 can determine one ormore statistics relating to each of one or more messages and/or theseries. Examples of statistics can include, for example, message length(e.g., in words or characters), latency between a receipt of acommunication and transmission of a responsive communication, latencybetween subsequent message transmissions, or typing speed while typing amessage. As yet another example, connection management system 150 canreceive and process one or more inputs, detected initially at networkdevice 105 or the first terminal device and then identified toconnection management system 150. Such inputs can identify, for example,a reroute request, or a resolution stage.

Connection management system 150 can evaluate the characteristic (e.g.,characterizing message content, including a statistic or characterizingan input) to determine whether to define subsequent routing rules in aparticular manner. For example, a continuous-channel rule can include acondition relating to a characteristic that specifies when routing ofnetwork-device messages is to be inclined towards the first terminaldevice (which previously communicated with the network device). The rulecan be configured such that satisfaction of the condition results inestablishment of a continuous channel between the network device and thefirst terminal device. The continuous channel can allow subsequentmessages from the network device to be automatically routed to the firstterminal device and/or preferentially routed to the first terminaldevice. The continuous channel can be configured to persist throughmultiple communication series. For example, even if a first series ofmessages are communicated between the network device and first terminaldevice on a first day, the channel can inclination routing of anothermessage from the network device transmitted on a second day to be routedto the same first terminal device. A magnitude of such inclination maydepend on, for example, a time since a previous interaction between thenetwork device and first terminal device (e.g., increasing the level ofinclination when a past interaction was recent), a total duration ofand/or number of communications in a previous conversation (e.g., seriesof messages communicated between the network device and first terminaldevice) and/or a number of previous messages communicated between thenetwork device and first terminal device (and/or a cumulativeinteraction time or count of messages).

Upon establishing a continuous channel, connection management system 150can further facilitate presenting a presentation (e.g., notification) atnetwork device 105 so as to alert user 110 that a continuous channel hasbeen established, to identify the first terminal device or associateduser and/or to indicate that subsequent messages (e.g., transmitted inassociation with an identifier of the channel, associated with aparticular client, etc.) are to be routed to or to have routing inclinedtowards the first terminal device.

Conversely, connection management system 150 may determine that thecharacteristic indicates that subsequent messages from network device105 (e.g., relating to a client) are not to be routed to the same firstterminal device and/or are to be rerouted. For example, it can bedetermined that the condition in the continuous-channel rule is notsatisfied. Upon such a determination, connection management system 150can identify a new terminal device to route communications (e.g.,relating to a client) to from the network device.

In one instance, a continuous-channel rule is configured such that acontinuous channel is to be established between a network device and aterminal device following an initial routing of a communication betweenthe two devices. Thus, the continuous channel may serve to facilitateconsistent message routing within a single conversation (e.g., series ofcommunicated messages). In an alternative or same instance, acontinuous-channel rule may (also or alternatively) be configured suchthat a continuous channel is established, maintained or used so as toexecute consistent message routing across different message series(e.g., the series being separated in time). Depending on the embodiment,a continuous-channel rule may limit a number of continuous channels thatcan be provided with respect to a network device and/or client. Forexample, a rule may indicate that, for a network device and client, thenetwork device can only be connected to one (or three or anotherspecified number) terminal devices via continuous channel.

In some instances, connection management system 150 can determine that are-routing process is to be initiated (e.g., based on satisfaction of acondition in a re-routing rule). The determination can be based on acharacteristic (e.g., characterizing message content, including astatistic or characterizing an input). For example, a re-routing rulecan be configured such that re-routing is to be initiated upon detectinga characteristic indicative of user frustration or dissatisfaction;detecting a characteristic indicative of a lack of progress towards aresolution of an issue; detecting impermissible terminal-devicecommunication statistics (e.g., long response latencies); or detectingthat messages are beginning to focus on a new topic.

A re-routing process can include identifying a different terminal deviceto participate in a communication session with network device 105. Suchan identification can be based on, for example, a topic associated withthe communication, a polarity parameter associated with thecommunication or a past related communication, an estimated responselatency for terminal device 115, a type of communication channelassociated with the communication (e.g., instant message, message,email, phone), a type of each of one or more other terminal devices, acapability of one or more other terminal devices, and the like. Aselection of the different terminal device may be performed in a same,similar or different manner as compared to a selection of a firstterminal device. For example, determining that a re-routing rule'scondition has been satisfied may incline a subsequent terminal-deviceselection towards higher-ordering devices.

A re-routing process may include transmitting a notification identifyinga proposed re-routing to one or more devices, such as network device105, the first terminal device or the different terminal device. Thenotification may include an option to authorize and/or an option rejectthe proposed re-routing. The notification may include data about networkdevice 105, the first terminal device and/or the different terminaldevice and/or an associated party.

To reduce an abrupt transition between terminal devices, connectionmanagement system 150 can coordinate an overlap time period. During thistime period, each of the first terminal device and the differentterminal device can receive one or more communications (or processedversions thereof) from network device 105. For example, a newcommunication from network device 105 can be duplicated and then routedto each of the first and different terminal device.

In some instances, connection management system 150 can generate adynamic message chronicle that includes multiple messages from networkdevice 105 and/or from the first terminal device. The chronicle caninclude, for example, all messages in a communication session, allmessages routed within a defined time period (e.g., previous 3 minutes),or all messages associated with one or more defined tags or types. Forexample, messages relating to a particular topic, message polarity(e.g., corresponding to dissatisfaction), or content type (e.g.,including a question) can be selected. Connection management system 150can transmit the dynamic message chronicle to the different terminaldevice. New messages from network device 105 and/or the first terminaldevice can further be transmitted to the different terminal device, suchthat the dynamic message chronicle can be appended with such newmessages. Message selection for a dynamic message chronicle and/orwhether a dynamic message chronicle is to be provided may also depend onwhether re-routing is to occur during a temporally clustered series ofmessages or between message series.

In some instances, connection management system 150 can determinewhether and/or when to stop routing communications to the first terminaldevice. For example, such routing termination may be performed upondetecting a response communication from the different terminal device,after a defined time period has elapsed following transmission of themessage chronicle, after detecting an input received at the firstterminal device indicating an intent to terminate a communicationsession, after detecting an input received at the different terminaldevice indicating an intent to handle a communication session, afterdetecting an input received at network device 105 requesting theproposed re-routing to the different terminal device be executed, and soon.

Depending on a rule or a reason for initiating a re-routing transfer,the re-routing may include closing a connection channel between networkdevice 105 and the first terminal device (e.g., if a re-routing processwas initiated in response to a low user polarity) and/or establishing anew connection channel between network device 105 and the differentterminal device.

Each communication (e.g., between devices, between a device andconnection management system 150, between remote server 140 andconnection management system 150 or between remote server 140 and adevice) can occur over one or more networks 170. Any combination of openor closed networks can be included in the one or more networks 170.Examples of suitable networks include the Internet, a personal areanetwork, a local area network (LAN), a wide area network (WAN), or awireless local area network (WLAN). Other networks may be suitable aswell. The one or more networks 170 can be incorporated entirely withinor can include an intranet, an extranet, or a combination thereof. Insome instances, a network in the one or more networks 170 includes ashort-range communication channel, such as a Bluetooth or a BluetoothLow Energy channel. In one embodiment, communications between two ormore systems and/or devices can be achieved by a secure communicationsprotocol, such as secure sockets layer (SSL) or transport layer security(TLS). In addition, data may be encrypted based on any convenient,known, or to be developed manner, such as, but not limited to, DataEncryption Standard (DES), Triple DES, Rivest-Shamir-Adleman encryption(RSA), Blowfish encryption, Advanced Encryption Standard (AES),CAST-128, CAST-256, Decorrelated Fast Cipher (DFC), Tiny EncryptionAlgorithm (TEA), eXtended TEA (XTEA), Corrected Block TEA (XXTEA),and/or RC5, etc.

A network device 105, terminal device 115 and/or client device 130 caninclude, for example, a portable electronic device (e.g., a smart phone,tablet, laptop computer, or smart wearable device) or a non-portableelectronic device (e.g., one or more desktop computers, smartappliances, servers, and/or processors). Connection management system150 can be separately housed from network, terminal and client devicesor may be part of one or more such devices (e.g., via installation of anapplication on a device). Remote server 140 may be separately housedfrom each device and connection management system 150 and/or may be partof another device or system. While each device, server and system inFIG. 1 is shown as a single device, it will be appreciated that multipledevices may instead be used. For example, a set of network devices canbe used to transmit various communications from a single user, or remoteserver 140 may include a server stack.

A software agent or application may be installed on and/or executable ona depicted device, system or server. In one instance, the software agentor application is configured such that various depicted elements can actin related manners. For example, a software agent on a device can beconfigured to obtain and transmit data about device usage to a separateconnection management system, and a software application on the separateconnection management system can be configured to receive and processthe data.

FIG. 2 shows a block diagram of another embodiment of a networkinteraction system 200. Generally, FIG. 2 illustrates a range ofcomponents configured and arranged to enable a network device 205 tocommunicate with one or more terminal devices 215. The depicted instanceincludes nine terminal devices 215 included in three local-area networks235.

In some instances, a communication from network device 205 includesdestination data (e.g., a destination IP address) that at least partlyor entirely indicates which terminal device is to receive thecommunication. Network interaction system 200 can include one or moreinter-network connection components 240 and/or one or more intra-networkconnection components 255 that can process the destination data andfacilitate appropriate routing.

Each inter-network connection components 245 can be connected to aplurality of networks 235 and can have multiple network cards installed(e.g., each card connected to a different network). For example, aninter-network connection component 245 can be connected to a wide-areanetwork 270 and one or more local-area networks 235. In the depictedinstance, in order for a communication to be transmitted from networkdevice 205 to any of the terminal devices, in the depicted system, thecommunication must be handled by multiple inter-network connectioncomponents 245.

When an inter-network connection component 245 receives a communication(or a set of packets corresponding to the communication), inter-networkconnection component 245 can determine at least part of a route to passthe communication to a network associated with a destination. The routecan be determined using, for example, a routing table (e.g., stored atthe router), which can include one or more routes that are pre-defined,generated based on an incoming message (e.g., from another router orfrom another device) or learned.

Examples of inter-network connection components 245 include a router 260and a gateway 265. An inter-network connection component 245 (e.g.,gateway 265) may be configured to convert between network systems orprotocols. For example, gateway 265 may facilitate communication betweenTransmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) andInternetwork Packet Exchange/Sequenced Packet Exchange (IPX/SPX)devices.

Upon receiving a communication at a local-area network 235, furtherrouting may still need to be performed. Such intra-network routing canbe performed via an intra-network connection component 255, such as aswitch 280 or hub 285. Each intra-network connection component 255 canbe connected to (e.g., wirelessly or wired, such as via an Ethernetcable) multiple terminal devices 215. Hub 285 can be configured torepeat all received communications to each device to which it isconnected. Each terminal device can then evaluate each communication todetermine whether the terminal device is the destination device orwhether the communication is to be ignored. Switch 280 can be configuredto selectively direct communications to only the destination terminaldevice.

In some instances, a local-area network 235 can be divided into multiplesegments, each of which can be associated with independent firewalls,security rules and network protocols. An intra-network connectioncomponent 255 can be provided in each of one, more or all segments tofacilitate intra-segment routing. A bridge 280 can be configured toroute communications across segments 275.

To appropriately route communications across or within networks, variouscomponents analyze destination data in the communications. For example,such data can indicate which network a communication is to be routed to,which device within a network a communication is to be routed to orwhich communications a terminal device is to process (as opposed toignore). However, in some instances, it is not immediately apparentwhich terminal device (or even which network) is to participate in acommunication from a network device.

To illustrate, a set of terminal devices may be configured so as toprovide similar types of responsive communications. Thus, it may beexpected that a query in a communication from a network device may beresponded to in similar manners regardless to which network device thecommunication is routed. While this assumption may be true at a highlevel, various details relating to terminal devices can give rise toparticular routings being advantageous as compared to others. Forexample, terminal devices in the set may differ from each other withrespect to (for example) which communication channels are supported,location and/or network proximity to a network device and/orcharacteristics of associated agents (e.g., availability, etc.).Accordingly, select routings may facilitate faster responses that moreaccurately and/or completely respond to a network-device communication.A complication is that static routings mapping network devices toterminal devices may fail to consider variations in communicationtopics, channel types, agent availability, and so on.

FIGS. 3A-3C show block diagrams of other embodiments of a networkinteraction system 300 a-c that includes a connection management system.Each of the depicted systems 300 a-c show only 2 local-area networks 235for simplicity, though it can be appreciated that embodiments can beextended to expand the number of local-area networks. Each of systems300 a-c include a connection management system 350, which can identifywhich terminal device is to communicate with network device 205, canestablish and manage (e.g., maintain or close) connection channels, candetermine whether and when to re-route communications in ancommunication session, and so on. Thus, connection management system 350can be configured to dynamically, and in real-time, evaluatecommunications, agent availability, capabilities of terminal devices oragents, and so on, to influence routing determinations.

In FIG. 3A, connection management system 350 is associated with each ofnetwork device 205 and a remote server 340 (e.g., connection managementsystem 350 a is associated with network device 205 and connectionmanagement system 350 b is associated with remote server 340). Forexample, connection management system 350 a and/or connection managementsystem 350 b can be installed or stored as an application on each ofnetwork device 205 and remote server 340, respectively. Execution of theapplication(s) can facilitate, for example, a communication betweennetwork device 205 and remote server 340 to identify a terminal device215 selected to participate in a communication session with networkdevice 205. The identification can be made based on one or more factorsdisclosed herein (e.g., availability, connections between acommunication's topic/level of detail with agents' or terminal devices'resource sets, estimated latency, channel-type availability, and so on).

A client device 330 can provide client data indicating how routingdeterminations are to be made. For example, such data can include:indications as to how particular characteristics are to be weighted orconstraints or inclinations (e.g., relating to load balancing orestimated response latency). Client data can also include specificationsrelated to when communication channels are to be established (or closed)or when communications are to be re-routed to a different networkdevice. Client data can be used to define various client-specific rules,such as rules for communication routing; channel establishment,management or closing; communication re-routing; communicationtype-identification, and so on.

Connection management system 350 b executing on remote server 340 canmonitor various metrics relating to terminal devices (e.g., relating toa client), such as which communication channels are supported, locationand/or network proximity to a network device, communication latencyand/or stability with the terminal device, a type of the terminaldevice, a capability of the terminal device, whether the terminal device(or agent) has communicated with a network device (or user) beforeand/or characteristics of associated agents (e.g., languages spoken,availability, etc.). Accordingly, communication management system 350 bmay be enabled to select routings to facilitate faster responses thatmore accurately and/or completely respond to a network-devicecommunication based on the metrics.

In the example depicted in FIG. 3A, a communication session betweennetwork device 205 and remote server 340 can facilitate earlyidentification of a destination address. Network device 205 may then usethe destination address to direct subsequent communications. Forexample, network device 205 may send an initial communication to remoteserver 340 (e.g., via one or more inter-network connections and awide-area network), and remote server 340 may identify one or morecorresponding clients. Remote server 340 may then identify a set ofterminal devices associated with the one or more corresponding clientsand obtain metrics for those terminal devices. The metrics can beevaluated (e.g., by remote server 340) so as to select a terminal deviceto involve in a communication session, and data relating to the terminaldevice (e.g., an IP address) can be sent to network device 205. In someembodiments, remote server 340 may continuously or periodically obtainand evaluate metrics for various terminal devices and store evaluationresults in a data store. In such embodiments, upon identifying a set ofterminal devices associated with the one or more corresponding clients,remote server 340 can access the stored evaluation results from the datastore and select a terminal device to involve in the communicationsession based on the stored evaluation results.

In FIG. 3B, connection management system 350 can be configured to serveas a relay and/or destination address. Thus, for example, a set ofnetwork devices 205 may transmit communications, each identifyingconnection management system 350 as a destination. Connection managementsystem 350 can receive each communication and can concurrently monitor aset of terminal devices (e.g., so as to generate metrics for eachterminal device). Based on the monitoring and a rule, connectionmanagement system 350 can identify a terminal device 215 to which it mayrelay each communication. Depending on the embodiment, terminal devicecommunications may similarly be directed to a consistent destination(e.g., of connection management system 350) for further relaying, orterminal devices may begin communicating directly with correspondingnetwork devices. These embodiments can facilitate efficient routing andthorough communication monitoring.

The embodiment depicted in FIG. 3C is similar to that in FIG. 3B.However, in some embodiments, connection management system 350 isdirectly connected to intra-network components (e.g., terminal devices,intra-network connections, or other).

It will be appreciated that many variations of FIGS. 3A-3C arecontemplated. For example, connection management system 350 may beassociated with a connection component (e.g., inter-network connectioncomponent 245 or intra-network connection component 255) such that anapplication corresponding to connection management system 350 (or partthereof) is installed on the component. The application may, forexample, perform independently or by communicating with one or moresimilar or related applications (e.g., executing on one or more othercomponents, network devices or remotes servers).

FIG. 4 shows a representation of a protocol-stack mapping 400 ofconnection components' operation. More specifically, FIG. 4 identifies alayer of operation in an Open Systems Interaction (OSI) model thatcorresponds to various connection components.

The OSI model can include multiple logical layers 402-414. The layersare arranged in an ordered stack, such that layers 402-412 each serve ahigher level and layers 404-414 is each served by a lower layer. The OSImodel includes a physical layer 402. Physical layer 402 can defineparameters physical communication (e.g., electrical, optical, orelectromagnetic). Physical layer 402 also defines connection managementprotocols, such as protocols to establish and close connections.Physical layer 402 can further define a flow-control protocol and atransmission mode.

A link layer 404 can manage node-to-node communications. Link layer 404can detect and correct errors (e.g., transmission errors in the physicallayer 402) and manage access permissions. Link layer 404 can include amedia access control (MAC) layer and logical link control (LLC) layer.

A network layer 406 can coordinate transferring data (e.g., of variablelength) across nodes in a same network (e.g., as datagrams). Networklayer 406 can transform a logical network address to a physical machineaddress.

A transport layer 408 can manage transmission and receipt quality.Transport layer 408 can provide a protocol for transferring data, suchas a Transmission Control Protocol (TCP). Transport layer 408 canperform segmentation/desegmentation of data packets for transmission andcan detect transmission errors occurring in layers 402-406. A sessionlayer 410 can initiate, maintain and terminate connections between localand remote applications. Sessions may be used as part ofremote-procedure interactions. A presentation layer 412 can encrypt,decrypt and format data based on data types known to be accepted by anapplication or network layer.

An application layer 414 can interact with software applications thatcontrol or manage communications. Via such applications, applicationlayer 414 can (for example) identify destinations, local resource statesor availability and/or communication content or formatting. Variouslayers 402-414 can perform other functions as available and applicable.

Intra-network connection components 422, 424 are shown to operate inphysical layer 402 and link layer 404. More specifically, a hub canoperate in the physical layer, such that operations can be controlledwith respect to receipts and transmissions of communications. Becausehubs lack the ability to address communications or filter data, theypossess little to no capability to operate in higher levels. Switches,meanwhile, can operate in link layer 404, as they are capable offiltering communication frames based on addresses (e.g., MAC addresses).

Meanwhile, inter-network connection components 426, 428 are shown tooperate on higher levels (e.g., layers 406-414). For example, routerscan filter communication data packets based on addresses (e.g., IPaddresses). Routers can forward packets to particular ports based on theaddress, so as to direct the packets to an appropriate network. Gatewayscan operate at the network layer and above, perform similar filteringand directing and further translation of data (e.g., across protocols orarchitectures).

A connection management system 450 can interact with and/or operate on,in various embodiments, one, more, all or any of the various layers. Forexample, connection management system 450 can interact with a hub so asto dynamically adjust which terminal devices the hub communicates. Asanother example, connection management system 450 can communicate with abridge, switch, router or gateway so as to influence which terminaldevice the component selects as a destination (e.g., MAC, logical orphysical) address. By way of further examples, a connection managementsystem 450 can monitor, control, or direct segmentation of data packetson transport layer 408, session duration on session layer 410, and/orencryption and/or compression on presentation layer 412. In someembodiments, connection management system 450 can interact with variouslayers by exchanging communications with (e.g., sending commands to)equipment operating on a particular layer (e.g., a switch operating onlink layer 404), by routing or modifying existing communications (e.g.,between a network device and a terminal device) in a particular manner,and/or by generating new communications containing particular data(e.g., new destination addresses) based on the existing communication.Thus, connection management system 450 can influence communicationrouting and channel establishment (or maintenance or termination) viainteraction with a wide range of devices and/or via influencingoperating at a wide range of protocol-stack layers.

FIG. 5 represents a multi-device communication interaction system 500according to an embodiment. System 500 includes a network device 505configured to communicate with a various terminal devices over varioustypes of communication channels.

In the depicted instance, network device 505 can transmit acommunication over a cellular network (e.g., via a base station 510).The communication can be routed to an operative network 515. Operativenetwork 515 can include a connection management system 520 that receivesthe communication and identifies which terminal device is to respond tothe communication. Such determination can depend on identifying a clientto which that communication pertains (e.g., based on a content analysisor user input indicative of the client) and determining one or moremetrics for each of one or more terminal devices associated with theclient. For example, in FIG. 5, each cluster of terminal devices 530 a-ccan correspond to a different client. The terminal devices may belocationally co-located or disperse. The metrics may be determined basedon stored or learned data and/or real-time monitoring (e.g., based onavailability).

Connection management system 520 can communicate with various terminaldevices via one or more routers 525 or other inter-network orintra-network connection components. Connection management system 520may obtain, analyze and/or store data from or relating tocommunications, terminal-device operations, client rules, and/oruser-associated actions (e.g., interaction activity on a network site,etc.) at one or more data stores. Such data may influence communicationrouting.

Notably, various other devices can further be used to influencecommunication routing and/or processing. For example, in the depictedinstance, connection management system 520 also is connected to anetwork server 540. Thus, connection management system 540 can retrievedata of interest, such as technical object details and additional data,and so on.

Network device 505 may also be connected to a network server (e.g.,including a streaming network server 545). In some instances,communication with such a server provided an initial option to initiatea communication session with connection management system 520. Forexample, network device 505 may detect that, while visiting a particularnetwork site, a communication engagement option is available and such anoption can be presented.

One or more elements of communication system 500 can also be connectedto a social-networking server 550. Social networking server 550 canaggregate data received from various user devices. Thus, for example,connection management system 520 may be able to estimate a general (oruser-specific) polarity towards a particular topic or estimate a generalaction of a user or type of users.

FIG. 6 shows a block diagram of an embodiment of a connection managementsystem 600. A message receiver interface 605 can receive a message. Insome instances, the message can be received, for example, as part of acommunication transmitted by a source device (e.g., housed separatelyfrom connection management system 600 or within a same housing), such asa network device or terminal device. In some instances, thecommunication can be part of a series of communications or a communicatesession, which can include a series of messages or message being routedbetween two devices (e.g., a network device and terminal device). Thismessage or communication session may be part of and/or may define aninteraction between the devices. A communication channel or operativechannel can include one or more protocols (e.g., routing protocols,task-assigning protocols and/or addressing protocols) used to facilitaterouting and a communication session between the devices.

In some instances, the message can include a message generated based oninputs received at a local or remote user interface. For example, themessage can include a message that was generated based on button or keypresses or recorded speech signals. In one instance, the messageincludes an automatically generated message, such as one generated upondetecting that a network device is presenting a particular app page ornetwork interface or has provided a particular input command (e.g., keysequence). The message can include an instruction or request, such asone to initiate a communication session.

In some instances, the message can include or be associated with anidentifier of a client. For example, the message can explicitly identifythe client (or a device associated with the client); the message caninclude or be associated with a network interface or app page associatedwith the client; the message can include or be associated with adestination address associated with a client; or the message can includeor be associated with an identification of an object associated with theclient. To illustrate, a network device may be presenting an app page ofa particular client, which may provide an option to transmit acommunication to an agent. Upon receiving user input corresponding to amessage, a communication may be generated to include the message and anidentifier of the particular client.

A processing unit 610 may process a received communication and/ormessage. Processing can include, for example, extracting one or moreparticular data elements (e.g., a message, a client identifier, anetwork-device identifier, a user or user protocol identifier, and soon). Processing can include transforming a formatting or communicationtype (e.g., to be compatible with a particular device type, operatingsystem, communication-channel type, protocol and/or network).

A message determination unit 615 may determine the message. Thedetermination can include identifying, for example, one or more types ortags for the message. Examples of type or tag types can include (forexample) topic, message polarity, complexity, and urgency. A differencebetween determining a type of message and tagging a message can be thattypes can be limited (e.g., according to a predefined set of typeoptions), while tags can be open. A topic can include, for example, anobject, a technical issue, a use question, a complaint, or othersuitable topic. A type or tag can be determined, for example, based on asemantic analysis of a message (e.g., by identifying keywords, sentencestructures, repeated words, punctuation characters and/or non-articlewords); user input (e.g., having selected one or more types); and/ormessage-associated statistics (e.g., typing speed and/or responselatency).

In some instances, message determination unit 615 can determine a metricfor a message. A metric can include, for example, a number ofcharacters, words, capital letters, all-capital words or instances ofparticular characters or punctuation marks (e.g., exclamation points,question marks and/or periods). A metric can include a ratio, such as afraction of sentences that end with an exclamation point (or questionmark), a fraction of words that are all capitalized, and so on.

Message determination unit 615 can store a message, message metricand/or message statistic in a message data store 620. Each message canalso be stored in association with other data (e.g., metadata), such asdata identifying a corresponding source device, destination device,network device, terminal device, client, one or more types, one or morestages and/or message-associated statistics). Various components ofconnection management system 600 (e.g., message determination unit 615and/or an interaction management unit 625) can query message data store620 to retrieve query-responsive messages, message metrics and/ormessage statistics.

An interaction management unit 625 can determine to which device acommunication is to be routed and how the receiving and transmittingdevices are to communicate. Each of these determinations can depend, forexample, on whether a particular network device (or any network deviceassociated with a particular user) has previously communicated with aterminal device in a set of terminal devices (e.g., any terminal deviceassociated with connection management system 600 or any terminal deviceassociated with one or more particular clients).

In some instances, when a network device (or other network deviceassociated with a sane user or user protocol (e.g., profile)) haspreviously communicated with a terminal device (e.g., about mattersrelating to a client), communication routing can be generally inclinedtowards the same terminal device. Other factors that may influencerouting can include, for example, an inferred or identified user oragent polarity relating to the previous communication; a topic of apresent communication (e.g., and an extent to which that relates to atopic of a previous communication and/or a resource set associated withone or more terminal devices or agents); whether the terminal device (orcorresponding agent) is available; and/or an estimated response latencyof the terminal device. Such factors may be considered absolutely orrelative to similar metrics corresponding to other terminal devices. Are-routing rule (e.g., a client-specific or general rule) can indicatehow such factors are to be evaluated and weighted to determine whetherto forego agent consistency.

When a network device (or other network device associated with a sameuser or user protocol) has not previously communicated with a terminaldevice (e.g., about matters relating to a client), a terminal-deviceselection can be performed based on factors such as, for example, anextent to which various agents' resource set corresponds to acommunication topic, availability of various agents at a time and/orover a channel type, types and/or capabilities of terminal devices(e.g., associated with the client), a language similarity between a userand agents. In one instance, a rule can identify how to determine asub-parameter to one or more factors such as these and a weight toassign to each parameter. By combining (e.g., summing) weightedsub-parameters, a parameter for each agent can be determined. A terminaldevice selection can then be made by comparing terminal devices'parameters (e.g., to select a high or highest value).

With regard to determining how devices are to communicate, interactionmanagement unit 625 can (for example) determine whether a terminaldevice is to respond to a communication via (for example) email, chat,SMS message, voice call, video chat, etc. A communication type can beselected based on, for example, a communication-type priority list(e.g., at least partly defined by a client or user); a type of acommunication previously received from the network device, a complexityof a received message, capabilities of the network device, and/or anavailability of one or more terminal devices. Appreciably, somecommunication types will result in real-time communication (e.g., wherefast message response is expected), while others can result inasynchronous communication (e.g., where delays (e.g., of several minutesor hours) between messages are acceptable).

Further, interaction management unit 625 can determine whether acontinuous channel between two devices should be established, used orterminated. A continuous channel can be structured so as to facilitaterouting of communications from a network device to a specified terminaldevice. This inclination can persist even across message series (e.g.,days, weeks or months). In some instances, a representation of acontinuous channel (e.g., identifying an agent) can be included in apresentation to be presented on a network device. In this manner, a usercan understand that communications are to be consistently routed.

In one instance, a parameter (e.g., a score or value, etc.) can begenerated using one or more factors described herein and a rule (e.g.,that includes a weight for each of the one or more factors) to determinea connection parameter corresponding to a network device and terminaldevice. The parameter may relate to an overall similarity or onespecific to a communication or communication series. Thus, for example,the parameter may reflect a degree to which a terminal device isestimated to be suited to respond to a network-device communication. Insome instances, analysis of the parameter can identify a terminal deviceto route a communication to and whether to establish, use or terminate aconnection channel. When an analysis is used to both address a routingdecision and a channel decision, a parameter relevant to each decisionmay be determined in a same, similar or different manner.

Thus, for example, it will be appreciated that different factors may beconsidered depending on whether the parameter is to estimate a strengthof a long-term similarity compared to one to respond to a particularmessage query. For example, in the former instance, considerations ofoverall schedules and time zones may be important, while in the latterinstance, immediate availability may be more highly weighted. Aparameter can be determined for a single network-device/terminal-devicecombination, or multiple parameters can be determined, eachcharacterizing a similarity between a network device and a differentterminal device.

To illustrate, a set of three terminal devices associated with a clientmay be evaluated for determining candidate terminal devices forcommunication routing. A parameter may be generated for each thatrelates to a similarity for the particular communication. Each of thefirst two terminal devices may have previously communicated with anetwork device having transmitted the communication. An input from thenetwork device may have indicated satisfaction with an interaction withthe communication(s) with the first device. Thus, a past-interactsub-parameter (as calculated according to a rule) for the first, secondand third devices may be 10, 5, and 0, respectively. (Negativesatisfaction inputs may result in negative sub-parameters.) It may bedetermined that only the third terminal device is immediately available.It may be estimated that the second terminal device will be availablefor responding within 15 minutes, but that the first terminal devicewill not be available for responding until the next day. Thus, afast-response sub-parameter for the first, second and third devices maybe 1, 3 and 10. Finally, it may be estimated a degree to which an agent(associated with the terminal device) can communicate regarding a topic.It may be determined that an agent associated with the third terminaldevice can communicate with a network device at a higher level thanthose associated with the other two devices, resulting in sub-parametersof 3, 4 and 9. In this example, the rule does not include weighting ornormalization parameters (though, in other instances, a rule may),resulting in parameters of 14, 11 and 19. Thus, the rule may indicatethat the message is to be routed to a device with the highest parameter,that being the third terminal device. If routing to a particularterminal device is unsuccessful, the message can be routed to a devicewith the next-highest parameter, and so on.

A parameter may be compared to one or more absolute or relativethresholds. For example, parameters for a set of terminal devices can becompared to each other to identify a high parameter to select a terminaldevice to which a communication can be routed. As another example, aparameter (e.g., a high parameter) can be compared to one or moreabsolute thresholds to determine whether to establish a continuouschannel with a terminal device. An overall threshold for establishing acontinuous channel may (but need not) be higher than a threshold forconsistently routing communications in a series of messages. Thisdifference between the overall threshold and threshold for determiningwhether to consistently route communication may be because a strongsimilarity is important in the continuous-channel context consideringthe extended utility of the channel. In some embodiments, an overallthreshold for using a continuous channel may (but need not) be lowerthan a threshold for establishing a continuous channel and/or forconsistently routing communications in a series of messages.

Interaction management unit 625 can interact with an user data unit 630in various contexts. For example, user data unit 630 may look up anidentifier of a network device or terminal device in a protocol datastore 635 to identify a protocol corresponding to the device. Further,user data unit 630 can maintain data about previous communicationsessions (e.g., times, involved other device(s), channel type,resolution stage, topic(s) and/or associated client identifier),connection channels (e.g., indicating—for each of one or moreclients—whether any channels exist, a terminal device associated witheach channel, an establishment time, a usage frequency, a time of lastuse, any channel constraints and/or supported types of communication),user or agent preferences or constraints (e.g., related toterminal-device selection, response latency, terminal-deviceconsistency, agent resource set, and/or communication-type preference orconstraint), and/or user or agent characteristics (e.g., age,language(s) spoken, location, interests, and so on).

Further, interaction management unit 625 can alert user data unit 630 ofvarious connection-channel actions, such that protocol data store 635can be updated to reflect the current channel data. For example, uponestablishing a channel, interaction management unit 625 can notify userdata unit 630 of the establishment and identify one or more of: anetwork device, a terminal device, a user protocol and a client.protocol unit 635 can (in some instances) subsequently notify a user ofthe channel's existence such that the user can be aware of the agentconsistency being availed.

Interaction management unit 625 can further interact with a clientmapping unit 640, which can map a communication to one or more clients(and/or associated brands). In some instances, a communication receivedfrom a network device itself includes an identifier corresponding to aclient (e.g., an identifier of a client, object provided by a client,network site, or app page). The identifier can be included as part of amessage (e.g., which client mapping unit 640 may detect) or included asother data in a message-inclusive communication. Client mapping unit 640may then look up the identifier in a client data store 645 to retrieveadditional data about the client and/or an identifier of the client.

In some instances, a message may not particularly correspond to anyclient. For example, a message may include a general query. Clientmapping unit 640 may, for example, perform a semantic analysis on themessage, identify one or more keywords and identify one or more clientsassociated with the keyword(s). In some instances, a single client isidentified. In some instances, multiple clients are identified. Anidentification of each client may then be presented via a network devicesuch that a user can select a client to communicate with (e.g., via anassociated terminal device).

Client data store 645 can include identifications of one or moreterminal devices (and/or agents) associated with the client. A terminalrouting unit 650 can retrieve data relating to each of one, more or allsuch terminal devices (and/or agents) so as to influence routingdeterminations. For example, terminal routing unit 650 may maintain aterminal data store 655, which can store data such as terminal devices'device types, operating system, communication-type capabilities,installed applications accessories, location and/or identifiers (e.g.,IP addresses). Data can also include agent data, such as position,resource sets (e.g., topics that the agent is knowledgeable about),identifier metrics, working hours, language(s) spoken and/or locationdata. Some data can be dynamically updated. For example, data indicatingwhether a terminal device is available may be dynamically updated basedon (for example) a communication from a terminal device (e.g.,identifying whether the device is asleep, being turned off/on,idle/active, or identifying whether input has been received within atime period); a communication routing (e.g., indicative of whether aterminal device is involved in or being assigned to be part of acommunication session); or a communication from a network device orterminal device indicating that a communication session has ended orbegun.

It will be appreciated that, in various contexts, being engaged in oneor more communication sessions do not necessarily indicate that aterminal device is not available to engage in another communicationsession. Various factors, such as communication types (e.g., message,email, chat, phone), client-identified or user-identified targetresponse times, and/or system loads (e.g., generally or with respect toa user) may influence how many communication sessions a terminal devicemay be involved in.

When interaction management unit 625 has identified a terminal device toinvolve in a communication session or connection channel, it can notifyterminal routing unit 650, which may retrieve any pertinent data aboutthe terminal device from terminal data store 655, such as a destination(e.g., IP) address, device type, protocol, etc. Processing unit 610 canthen (in some instances) modify the message-inclusive communication orgenerate a new communication (including the message) so as to have aparticular format, comply with a particular protocol, and so on. In someinstances, a new or modified message may include additional data, suchas user data corresponding to a network device, a message chronicle,and/or client data.

A message transmitter interface 660 can then transmit the communicationto the terminal device. The transmission may include, for example, awired or wireless transmission to a device housed in a separate housing.The terminal device can include a terminal device in a same or differentnetwork (e.g., local-area network) as connection management system 600.Accordingly, transmitting the communication to the terminal device caninclude transmitting the communication to an inter- or intra-networkconnection component.

FIG. 7 is a schematic system block diagram of the method of the presentinvention. The Web server 708 receives ‘log-activity’ (LA) packets overthe Internet 704 from all subscribing entitles. An LA packet containsthe client's identifier, a type of activity and its content, along withan arbitrary weight. System integration (SI) packaging 712 collects theLA packets into an XML file. The XML file is inserted to the relationaldatabase (DB).

SI is the process of creating a complex information system. This processmay include designing or building a customized architecture orapplication (e.g. modification design), and integrating it with new orlegacy hardware, packaged and custom software, and communications. Thedata warehouse 716 stores all activities in a relational database formatthat facilitates rapid access and retrieval by the Online AnalyticalProcessing (OLAP) cube 720. OLAP cube 720 tracing engine facilitatesrapid retrieval of multidimensional queries, providing insightful dataregarding the network device's activities. The term “activity data,” or“activities” as used herein, refer to user interactions with the networklocation.

Ordering Process

The information needed for the ordering (e.g. ranking) process isgathered over a predetermined time period (e.g. a month).

Stage 1. The activity data is accumulated.

Stage 2. The client chooses an activity. Executing the activitygenerates input to be ordered. E.g., the activity may be any activitythat characterizes an action executed by the client within the networklocation.

Acquisition Activity (A.A.) After this, the client selects the unit ofmeasure that the client intends to use, such as dollars, seconds, etc.This is the only stage that is not operated automatically in the system.Rather, it is controlled by the client.

FIG. 8a is an exemplary screenshot of a preferred embodiment of anetwork location showing the “Manage Ordering Process” step in theCreate New Process mode of the Ordering Process Wizard, constructedaccording to the principles of the present invention. There are 3options 804 in the Manage Ordering Process step:

“Create new process from scratch”; 808 (this option is selected in thisexample)

“Create new process from” . . . a pull-down window lists varioussub-options; and

“Edit existing process” . . . a pull-down window lists varioussub-options.

FIG. 8b is an exemplary screenshot of a preferred embodiment of anetwork location interface showing the “Naming” step in the Create NewProcess mode of the Ordering Process Wizard, constructed according tothe principles of the present invention. The Naming step enables entryof a process Name 812 and Description 816 in corresponding windows.

Discover who are the network location's best reporters

FIG. 8c is an exemplary screenshot of one embodiment of a networklocation showing the “Change values” step 114 in Create New Process Modeof the Ordering Process Wizard, constructed according to the principlesof the present invention. Ordering Process Wizard 100 has two modes 103:

Ordering Center Home; and

Create a New Process 820, which is shown in progress in Ordering ProcessWizard 800.

Change values step 832 is the 3rd of three steps in creating a newprocess.

The present invention can create any number of “contribution orderingprocesses” using the User Interface (UI) of FIG. 8 c. The originalvalues for various criterion 840 can be replaced with updated values844. Criteria 824 can be removed 828 or added 836 through the UserInterface.

FIG. 8d is a screenshot of a preferred embodiment of a network locationdisplaying the “Ordering Dashboard” on the Ordering Center HomePage,constructed according to the principles of the present invention.Generally, the processes that have been input are displayed by name 848and date and time of the last update 852.

FIG. 9a is a screenshot of the Activity Correlation Model 900 a,constructed according to the principles of the present invention.

Stage 3. Correlation Matrix: At this stage, the system finds thecorrelation between the selected activity at stage 2 above and otheractivities in the system. In other words, the system finds graphicalpatterns identical to the conduct of a certain activity (for example,clicking on an advertisement) that was chosen. After the connection wasfound between the different graphs, a formalized ordering is created inthe following manner. The connections are then organized betweendifferent activities in a table, according to the order of thecorrelation strength between them.

Every activity receives an “identifier,” which encompasses thecorrelation between the activity and the activity that needs to beimproved, such as selecting a displayed object description or objectassignment. In the above mentioned table, for example, if the activitythat a client intends to increase is requesting an object, the action ofaccessing the system is an activity that would receive a high identifierat ordering the connection to requesting the object. In that case the“identifier” might be 97.

The correlation process can be processed with every activity in thesystem. For example, if the network device is a content generator basednetwork location, the correlation process can measure the input volumeattributable to a certain device or group of devices over a specifiedperiod. This is determined from the number of selections of a displayedobject description in that article that was written by a certain writerthat is assigned to a specific class in the network location. If theclient is a network location of electronic devices, the volume of inputby the device generator can be determined by applying the orderingprocess.

Activity Correlation Model 900 a, for example shows the correlationbetween Object Request 904 and Logins 908 to be 0.97, as indicated byreference block number 912.

Discover the network locations top contributing content elements

FIG. 9b is a screenshot illustrating the ordering of the “Top EngagingTags,” constructed according to the principles of the present invention.What actually makes the network location tick? With the presentinvention a network location can dynamically identify device content.Tags are keywords that describe the content of a network location,bookmark, image, or user generated publication (e.g. blog) entry. Tagshelp network devices search for relevant content. Tag-enabled networklocation services include bookmarking locations, such as del.icio.us,image sharing locations, such as Flickr and user generated publicationtracking locations such as Technorati. Tags provide a useful way oforganizing, retrieving and discovering information. Tags can also beused as a verb, as in tagging a user generated publication entry orsearching for articles tagged with “sports.” A tag cloud is a boxcontaining a list of tags with the most frequently identified (e.g.popular) tags being displayed as darker and bigger than less frequentlyidentified tags. Further techniques include those described, forexample, in U.S. application Ser. No. 12/608,117, filed on Oct. 29,2009, which is hereby incorporated by references in its entirety for allpurposes.

A network location can determine the contribution of different tagcontents using the contribution ordering (e.g. ranking) process (e.g.formula) created in conjunction with FIG. 1 above. Alternatively, thenetwork location can determine specific criteria, such as what contentelement generated the most comments or the most network device selectionof a displayed notification? Thus, in FIG. 9 b, a tag cloud 900 b isshown for a typical network location. The tag ‘Web 2.0,” 928, is thelargest. The tags “Bush” and “Iraq” have an intermediate font 924. Thetag “fashion” has the least enlarged font 920.

Understand the exact contribution of your operations (e.g. campaign) ordevice attributors (e.g. referrers)

FIG. 10 is a screenshot illustrating the ordering of the “TopContributing Attributors by Page Hits” 1000, constructed according tothe principles of the present invention. With the present invention thesystem can identify an exact output from a given input from eachoperation or from specific device attributors. Thus, in FIG. 10 theselected criterion for connected network device 1004 is page hits 1008.The top attributors shown is google.com 1012 with 159. The vast majorityare unknown 1016.

Discover the network devices that the network location is about to losebefore the network devices are lost

FIG. 11 is a screenshot illustrating Configure Warnings, constructedaccording to the principles of the present invention. Some networkdevices may connect to a network location with a declining frequencyover time. The network location may identify network devices susceptibleto a declining connection frequency and target those network deviceswith a specific publication to retain them. With the present inventionone can define warnings on changes in network device connection conductcorresponding to defined event types 1104. If a network devicepreviously connected to the network location at a particular frequency,then when the frequency suddenly declines a warning is issued to thenetwork location. Thresholds for each event type can be adjusted by auser interface object. For example, a user interface object, (e.g.slider 1108) is shown with the default position 1112 corresponding to azero threshold. The numerical value 1116, in a plus or minus value isalso shown.

Identify the network location's attractive content

How the system determine what content to display via the home page ofthe network location or each section? How does the system identifycontent that will contribute the most? The present invention candetermine the exact contribution of each content element in the networklocation, whether it's articles, images, or videos.

As every feature of the present invention is presented in two easy touse aspects of the 2-way application programmer interface (API), whichenables network device interaction, the system can take this informationand embed it back into the network location as an attractive contentlist.

No two network devices are the identical

The present invention enables giving network devices connected to anetwork location a unique display. A network location may display afirst type of content for a first network device and a second type ofcontent for a second network device. As the present invention traces atthe network device, the system can determine the interests of eachnetwork device connected to the network location.

FIG. 11 is a screenshot illustrating the traces of the SAGE engine,constructed according to the principles of the present invention. TheSAGE engine executes algorithms on all the system data over intervals oftime. The algorithms identify three types of anomalies in the system'saccumulated data. The data is processed in time intervals of traces asfollows:

a. Increases/linear changes in the data after an interval of time 2104.FIG. 5 shows a report for a particular 24 hour interval 1208.

b. Specific peaks in the data: the algorithm executes variouscross-sections (recent interval data against data from a previousinterval) and determines data that exceeds the defined threshold of thetime interval being evaluated.

c. Exponential changes in data are detected during the interval incomparison with similar previous intervals.

FIG. 13 is a screenshot illustrating a SAGE engine synopsis, generatedaccording to the principles of the present invention. “Device Stories”1304 based on specific anomalies in the network location's activity dataare presented. A user interface of a specific anomaly 1308 is shown.

Specific details are given in the above description to provide athorough understanding of the embodiments. However, it is understoodthat the embodiments can be practiced without these specific details.For example, circuits can be shown as block diagrams in order not toobscure the embodiments in unnecessary detail. In other instances,well-known circuits, processes, algorithms, structures, and techniquescan be shown without unnecessary detail in order to avoid obscuring theembodiments.

Implementation of the techniques, blocks, steps and means describedabove can be done in various ways. For example, these techniques,blocks, steps and means can be implemented in hardware, software, or acombination thereof. For a hardware implementation, the processing unitscan be implemented within one or more application specific integratedcircuits (ASICs), digital signal processors (DSPs), digital signalprocessing devices (DSPDs), programmable logic devices (PLDs), fieldprogrammable gate arrays (FPGAs), processors, controllers,micro-controllers, microprocessors, other electronic units designed toperform the functions described above, and/or a combination thereof.

Also, it is noted that portions of the embodiments can be described as aprocess which is depicted as a flowchart, a flow diagram, a data flowdiagram, a structure diagram, or a block diagram. Although a flowchartcan describe the operations as a sequential process, many of theoperations can be performed in parallel or concurrently. In addition,the order of the operations can be re-arranged. A process is terminatedwhen its operations are completed, but could have additional steps notincluded in the figure. A process can correspond to a method, afunction, a procedure, a subroutine, a subprogram, etc. When a processcorresponds to a function, its termination corresponds to a return ofthe function to the calling function or the main function.

Furthermore, embodiments can be implemented by hardware, software,scripting languages, firmware, middleware, microcode, hardwaredescription languages, and/or any combination thereof. When implementedin software, firmware, middleware, scripting language, and/or microcode,the program code or code segments to perform the necessary tasks can bestored in a machine readable medium such as a storage medium. A codesegment or machine-executable instruction can represent a procedure, afunction, a subprogram, a program, a routine, a subroutine, a module, asoftware package, a script, a class, or any combination of instructions,data structures, and/or program statements. A code segment can becoupled to another code segment or a hardware circuit by passing and/orreceiving information, data, arguments, parameters, and/or memorycontents. Information, arguments, parameters, data, etc. can be passed,forwarded, or transmitted via any suitable means including memorysharing, message passing, ticket passing, network transmission, etc.

For a firmware and/or software implementation, the methodologies can beimplemented with modules (e.g., procedures, functions, and so on) thatperform the functions described herein. Any machine-readable mediumtangibly embodying instructions can be used in implementing themethodologies described herein. For example, software codes can bestored in a memory. Memory can be implemented within the processor orexternal to the processor. As used herein the term “memory” refers toany type of long term, short term, volatile, nonvolatile, or otherstorage medium and is not to be limited to any particular type of memoryor number of memories, or type of media upon which memory is stored.

Moreover, as disclosed herein, the term “storage medium”, “storage” or“memory” can represent one or more memories for storing data, includingread only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), magnetic RAM, corememory, magnetic disk storage mediums, optical storage mediums, flashmemory devices and/or other machine readable mediums for storinginformation. The term “machine-readable medium” includes, but is notlimited to portable or fixed storage devices, optical storage devices,wireless channels, and/or various other storage mediums capable ofstoring that contain or carry instruction(s) and/or data.

While the principles of the disclosure have been described above inconnection with specific apparatuses and methods, it is to be clearlyunderstood that this description is made only by way of example and notas limitation on the scope of the disclosure.

1-20. (canceled)
 21. A computer-implemented method, comprising:identifying a plurality of interaction parameters, wherein aninteraction parameter is used to monitor an interaction with a server,wherein the server is associated with a network location, wherein thenetwork location is characterized by a configuration; monitoring one ormore interactions with the server over a period of time, wherein the oneor more interactions are associated with at least one feature;periodically determining a value corresponding to an interactionparameter, wherein determining is based on the one or more interactionsmonitored over the period of time; analyzing the periodically determinedvalues, wherein analyzing includes identifying an interaction parameterassociated with an attribute; determining an association between theidentified interaction parameter and another interaction parameter; anddisplaying association data, wherein the association data includes thedetermined association, and wherein the association data is used tomodify the configuration.
 22. The computer-implemented method of claim21, further comprising: determining an additional value associated withthe attribute, wherein the determined additional value is expressed inunits of time, and wherein the attribute is a trend.
 23. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 22, wherein displaying theassociation data further includes providing an indication of thedetermined value.
 24. The computer-implemented method of claim 21,wherein identifying the one of the interaction parameters is in responseto determining that the identified interaction parameter is associatedwith an exceeded threshold.
 25. The computer-implemented method of claim21, wherein monitoring the one or more interactions includes trackingtime durations of access requests to the server.
 26. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 25, wherein monitoring the one ormore interactions further includes tracking interactions of anidentified computing device and storing data representing the trackedinteractions of the identified computing device.
 27. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 21, further comprising: receivinginformation corresponding to an interaction type, wherein identifyingone of the interaction parameters is based on the interaction type. 28.A system, comprising: one or more data processors; and one or morenon-transitory computer-readable storage media containing instructionsconfigured to cause the one or more processors to perform operationsincluding: identifying a plurality of interaction parameters, wherein aninteraction parameter is used to monitor an interaction with a server,wherein the server is associated with a network location, wherein thenetwork location is characterized by a configuration; monitoring one ormore interactions with the server over a period of time, wherein the oneor more interactions are associated with at least one feature;periodically determining a value corresponding to an interactionparameter, wherein determining is based on the one or more interactionsmonitored over the period of time; analyzing the periodically determinedvalues, wherein analyzing includes identifying an interaction parameterassociated with an attribute; determining an association between theidentified interaction parameter and another interaction parameter; anddisplaying association data, wherein the association data includes thedetermined association, and wherein the association data is used tomodify the configuration.
 29. The system of claim 28, wherein theoperations further comprise: determining an additional value associatedwith the attribute, wherein the determined additional value is expressedin units of time, and wherein the attribute is a trend.
 30. The systemof claim 29, wherein displaying the association data further includesproviding an indication of the determined value.
 31. The system of claim28, wherein identifying the one of the interaction parameters is inresponse to determining that the identified interaction parameter isassociated with an exceeded threshold.
 32. The system of claim 28,wherein monitoring the one or more interactions includes tracking timedurations of access requests to the server.
 33. The system of claim 32,wherein monitoring the one or more interactions further includestracking interactions of an identified computing device and storing datarepresenting the tracked interactions of the identified computingdevice.
 34. The system of claim 28, wherein the operations furthercomprise: receiving information corresponding to an interaction type,wherein identifying one of the interaction parameters is based on theinteraction type.
 35. A computer-program product tangibly embodied in anon-transitory machine readable storage medium, and includinginstructions configured to cause a data processing apparatus to performoperations comprising: identifying a plurality of interactionparameters, wherein an interaction parameter is used to monitor aninteraction with a server, wherein the server is associated with anetwork location, wherein the network location is characterized by aconfiguration; monitoring one or more interactions with the server overa period of time, wherein the one or more interactions are associatedwith at least one feature; periodically determining a valuecorresponding to an interaction parameter, wherein determining is basedon the one or more interactions monitored over the period of time;analyzing the periodically determined values, wherein analyzing includesidentifying an interaction parameter associated with an attribute;determining an association between the identified interaction parameterand another interaction parameter; and displaying association data,wherein the association data includes the determined association, andwherein the association data is used to modify the configuration. 36.The computer-program product of claim 35, wherein the operations furthercomprise: determining an additional value associated with the attribute,wherein the determined additional value is expressed in units of time,and wherein the attribute is a trend.
 37. The computer-program productof claim 36, wherein displaying the association data further includesproviding an indication of the determined value.
 38. Thecomputer-program product of claim 35, wherein identifying the one of theinteraction parameters is in response to determining that the identifiedinteraction parameter is associated with an exceeded threshold.
 39. Thecomputer-program product of claim 35, wherein monitoring the one or moreinteractions includes tracking time durations of access requests to theserver.
 40. The computer-program product of claim 39, wherein monitoringthe one or more interactions further includes tracking interactions ofan identified computing device and storing data representing the trackedinteractions of the identified computing device.